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Internet Solutions to Rebrand to Dimension Data

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  • As the company consolidates its businesses across Africa

Integrated ICT services provider, Internet Solutions Limited is set to rebrand and operate as Dimension Data by the end of this year in all its operating companies.

This rebrand enables Dimension Data to consolidate its businesses, enhance efficiency and better deliver the changing technology needs of its clients in Nigeria

This is part of Dimension Data’s larger plan to consolidate its businesses, enhance efficiency, and better deliver the changing technology needs of its clients in Nigeria. Consequently, Olugbenga Olabiyi has been appointed as the Country Manager to head the company’s business operations in this country. 

Commenting on the new developments, Olabiyi assured clients that the company will continue to deliver services seamlessly and efficiently even as the firm works through the rebranding and integration process.

He noted that they will be focusing on developing uniquely tailored IT solutions as well as providing value-driven services through customer engagement and outstanding technology infrastructure – that advance productivity and business growth.

“We are happy to have received the government’s approval allowing us to rebrand and operate as Dimension Data. Our vision is to be a partner of choice for businesses; delivering innovative, game-changing technology and solutions not only in Nigeria but in the Middle East and Africa,” he said.

The Dimension Data Group of companies is also consolidating and rebranding all its subsidiaries in the Middle East and the rest of Africa where it has operations. The realignment saw Internet Solutions Managing Director Richard Hechle appointed to head the group’s consolidated business in East and West Africa.

Dimension Data East and West Africa Managing Director Richard Hechle said consolidating the company’s business will help the firm unlock opportunities for greater innovation, as well as giving clients the power to build their futures using game changing technology.

“Bringing all our people and operating companies together will allow us to effectively and efficiently execute our go-to market strategy and enable our clients’ success in a digital-first world. This digital-first world is characterised by technologies that are converging to deliver unified, hybrid and holistic solutions for real business impact,” he said.

As the market around us continues to evolve, he said the company was conscious of the need to remain relevant by delivering products and services that enable clients to meet the increasing demand for personalisation and customisation. Leveraging technology is critical for businesses and our products and services play a vital role in empowering them to build their future.

The group is reorganising around five go-to-market areas to deliver intelligent technology and services that are aligned to our clients’ journeys, including Intelligent Infrastructure, Intelligent Workplace & Customer Experience, Intelligent Business Applications, Intelligent Innovation, and Intelligent Cyber Security. 

“Reorganising ourselves to deliver what the market demands is driven with growth in mind and we are very excited about the future and are committed to bringing these changes online quickly. The role of technology in business is changing, therefore, how it is consumed, and the decisions related to technology are also changing. We are adapting to align our organisation to that of our client choices,” Hechle said.

“The way we collaborate with our clients is where we create the most significant value and sustainable business outcomes for them. The logic is clear: the more we focus on seamless client experiences, the more focused, we become on delivering solutions that work. We believe that when we understand our clients’ needs, we deliver better solutions.” he concluded.

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Technology

WATRA Advocates E-Governance and Technology to Boost Jobs for Youths In Nigeria, W/Africa

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WEST Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA) has advocated greater adoption of e-Governance and concerted effort to expand the digital economy in Nigeria and other countries of West Africa. 

The executive secretary of WATRA, Aliyu Yusuf Aboki stated that this will boost investment and create quality jobs for young people in Nigeria and West Africa. He stated that despite the comparatively low rate of literacy in West Africa, there is a very wide scope for digitizing government services. 

He said he sees the enormous opportunity for e-governance as he travels across the 15 ECOWAS states. He explained that governments at all levels could increase their taxes dramatically by digitizing the identities of taxpayers and tax collection processes. He also emphasized that there is a great opportunity to expand access to education and healthcare through digital tools. 

 WATRA is a regional organisation that has the mandate to promote the adoption and harmonization of regulations that stimulate investment in telecommunications and increase affordable access for citizens.

 The WATRA boss cited the example of India where over 1 billion citizens, including the poorest citizens, could easily receive or make payments using their telephones through a government-supported platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

 Other government-backed digital schemes in the country enable municipal governments to manage healthcare online and citizens to store and readily access government documents such as tax returns on their phones. 

Aliyu pointed out that the digitalization of government services has transformed the lives of the 273 million Indians who are classified as living in poverty. While noting progress in the adoption of ICT to deliver and manage government services in West Africa, the WATRA boss emphasized the need to scale up existing schemes in the sub-region. 

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Africa Region

Africa’s Smartphone Market Declines 3.4% In Q1

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Africa’s smartphone market declined 3.4 per cent quarter on quarter (QoQ) in Q1 2023 to total 17 million units, the lowest level of shipments since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Q1 2020.  That’s according to the latest figures announced by International Data Corporation (IDC), with the firm’s newly released Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker showing that rising inflation and local currency depreciations against the U.S. dollar have negatively impacted demand for smartphones across the continent.

Shipments of feature phones across Africa also declined in Q1 2023, although not to the same extent as smartphones. Feature phones remain relatively affordable and are still the preferred secondary device option for many consumers.

“Africa’s smartphone declined throughout 2022 amid weak consumer demand, and this has been exacerbated by rising inflation and higher device prices,” says George Mbuthia, a senior research analyst at IDC. “The average selling price (ASP) for smartphones grew QoQ due to high import costs and the fact that many vendors’ flagship devices are now equipped with 5G and have therefore moved up in price to the premium segment.”

Africa’s top 3 smartphone markets recorded a mixed performance in Q1 2023. South Africa and Nigeria both saw shipments decline QoQ, while the Egyptian market registered growth. South Africa was impacted by seasonality issues and weak demand, meaning vendors were unable to bring in new units while they continued to clear the channel. Egypt remains below its potential, but local assembly is picking up in the country and the government has now dropped its “letters of credit” requirement for vendors, both of which have helped the market to recover from its low base.

Transsion (Tecno, Itel, and Infinix) accounted for the largest share for smartphone shipments across Africa in Q1 2023, despite experiencing a decline in units. Samsung placed second, while Xiaomi came in third.

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Africa Region

M-KOPA raises $250m to scale high-impact consumer fintech across Africa

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M-KOPA, a leading fintech platform, today announced it successfully closed over $250m in new debt and equity funding to expand its financial services offering to underbanked consumers across Sub-Saharan Africa. This marks one of the largest combined debt and equity raises in the African tech sector, enabling M-KOPA to continue its rapid growth.

Over $200m in sustainability-linked debt financing was led and arranged by Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank and long-term strategic partner to M-KOPA. Other participating lenders include The International Finance Corporation (IFC), funds managed by Lion’s Head Global Partners, FMO: Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, British International Investment, Mirova SunFunder and Nithio. A further $55m in equity investment was backed by existing strategic investor Sumitomo Corporation, which is contributing $36.5m to the total raise and will engage closely with M-KOPA on new growth markets and products. Blue Haven Initiative, Lightrock, Broadscale Group and Latitude, the sister fund to Local Globe, also participated in the transaction.

M-KOPA’s fintech platform combines the power of digital micropayments with the Internet-of-Things (IoT) to provide customers with access to productive assets. In markets where individuals have limited pre-existing financial identities and conventional collateral, M-KOPA’s flexible credit model allows individuals to pay a small deposit and get instant access to everyday essentials, including smartphones, electric motorcycles and solar power systems, and then graduate to digital financial services such as loans and health insurance. M-KOPA’s solution embeds credit into the product through a smart digital connection, giving customers ownership instantly, which they can pay off through micro-instalments over time. The company has sold over 3 million of these products through a unique direct sales model that includes more than 10,000 agents. M-KOPA’s operations started in East Africa and successfully expanded to Nigeria in 2021 and, more recently, Ghana. From 2020 to 2022, M-KOPA recorded a compound annual growth rate of 85% in new customer acquisition, and was recently recognised as one of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Top 100 companies by the Financial Times for two consecutive years, in 2022 and 2023.

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